1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multidimensional mouse for use with computers, and more particularly to one which meets ergonomic requirements to allow a user to operate the mouse to control its Z-direction movement by merely depressing a specific key at its front/rear half portion and simultaneously moving the mouse thus simplifying the entry about the Z-directional data to the related computer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional computer mouse is installed with a ball at the bottom thereof for cooperating with an optical encoder thus receiving an X-axis or Y-axis movement signal as an entry (input). The received movement signal is encoded as a provisioning (temporary) data which is further decoded to control a cursor to move on the computer screen. During this decade (1990 to 1999), three dimensional drawings have become very popular in the computer aided drafting field, therefore the most advanced mouse 10 as shown in FIG. 7 is installed with a roller 50 for receiving the Z-axis relating entry thus controlling the cursor movement in the Z-axis direction of the computer screen. The detailed drawing of the mouse 10 is illustrated in FIG. 8, where an axis angle encoder 51 is installed at one end of the longitudinal length of the roller 50 for receiving and encoding the Z-axis entry to the mouse 10. The axis angle encoder 51 includes a transmitter 53, an optical detector 54, and a semi-circular optical grid 52 located between the transmitter 53 and the optical detector 54. The optical grid 52 defines several holes 55 therein and it is connected to and driven by the roller 50, therefore when the roller 50 rotates, the related entry to the mouse 10 will be encoded by the axis angle encoder 51, thus the cursor on the computer screen will move along the Z-axis with a corresponding amount based on the encoded result (data). However, to use this roller 50 for controlling the Z-axis movement does not meet the ergonomic requirements involved. For example, when the mouse 10 is manually moved forward (see the direction as shown by the arrow of FIG. 7) to make the cursor on the computer screen move in a corresponding direction on the X-Y plane, if the roller 50 is also moved to rotate forward (see the arrow in the top-right corner of FIG. 8), the cursor will move a corresponding distance in the positive Z-axis direction. However, if the user wants to move the cursor along the negative Z-axis direction while still retaining the same direction on the X-Y plane, he has to move the mouse 10 forward but rotate the roller 50 backward. This does not meet the ergonomic requirements, therefore, the user has to separate the operation into two steps: firstly, to move the mouse 10 forward, and secondly, to stop moving the mouse 10 and to rotate the roller 50 backward.
It is requisite to provide a new mouse which allows a user to move the cursor on the computer screen along any three-dimensional direction simultaneously.